Broken chords

You take the notes of the chord and play them in succession, going up and coming back. A five-bar series over C major chords could look like this, one chord per bar:

Look at the last bar: the order changes to C – G – E – C. Breaking the symmetry at the end is what makes the phrase sound closed rather than interrupted.

Broken chords are also called arpeggios, and they are the basis of nearly every exercise in the exercises section.

The first is the static bass: holding one low note while the upper ones move. Over an F, leaving the F ringing and breaking only A and C gives continuity without restating the bass on every beat.

The second is the passing note: a note outside the chord that bridges to the next one. Between a C and an Am, a B along the way makes the change sound like a line rather than a cut.

And one common licence: in a C7 you can drop the third and play only three notes, so the chord fits the same rhythmic pattern as the rest. When the pattern rules, a note gets sacrificed.

This is the most recognisable accompaniment figure in classical music, named after the 18th-century Italian composer Domenico Alberti. The pattern is fixed: low note, high note, middle note, high note, in eighth notes.

Over a C major it becomes C – G – E – G, repeated. It sounds steady without being monotonous, because the high note returns every other beat and holds the pulse while the other two outline the chord.

In 3/4 the classic left-hand pattern splits the chord in three: first the root alone, then the rest of the chord twice.

Over a C major: C on the first beat, then E–G together on the second and third. The root marks the bar, the upper block fills it. It is the same idea as voicings — separating bass from the rest — applied to rhythm instead of register.

With any of these patterns it is worth experimenting with the sustain pedal, if your instrument has one: it holds the broken notes and turns the line back into harmony.